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Mayor Ana Botella provokes anger among organisers of city's gay celebration after levying fines for noise violations
The organisers of Madrid Pride Week, one of the biggest events of its kind in Europe, said the city was trying to "strangle" the event after they were fined nearly €160,000 (£134,000) for noise violations during this year's festival.
"You can't levy such barbaric fines on an event that's so important to the city," said Boti Rodrigo, president of the Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales. "These fines put the survival of Madrid Pride in serious jeopardy."
This is the fourth successive year the festival has been fined for noise violations. Past fines ranged from €35,000-€50,000, against which organisers successfully appealed and had reduced or waived. The courts have so far reduced one of the fines to €600, but have yet to rule on the other two. This year's edition of Madrid Pride, held in July, earned 15 fines totalling €159,809. Organisers have appealed against the fines, but said it could take more than a year before they find out if their appeal is successful.
"We've never seen city hall so short-sighted, with such little political will towards us," said Rodrigo. The celebration of gay pride, started in 1979, attracts an estimated 1.5 million people each year and offers the city a chance to "show that Madrid is an open, multicultural and tolerant city".
"They need to stop trying put obstacles in the way of the event," she said.
When the organisers of Madrid Pride decided to nominate the city to host World Pride, Madrid's mayor, Ana Botella, wrote a letter of support backing the campaign. Now, with the city gearing up to host the global event in 2017, Rodrigo said the mayor's attitude had changed.
"She's putting up permanent barriers to our success," said Rodrigo. "What's clear is that the ideology of a person, when that person is the mayor of Madrid, shouldn't interfere at all in her political responsibilities."
In 2011, when Botella was Madrid's councillor for the environment, she introduced stringent noise limits in residential areas. The restrictions forced Madrid Pride to resort to silent concerts, where participants danced to music streaming through their headphones. Organisers later complained that this dampened the mood of the event. Since then, the city has allowed for some flexibility, doubling the noise limit during Madrid Pride.
Calls to the mayor's office were not returned, but the association that represents Chueca, the neighbourhood where Madrid Pride is held, has been actively lobbying the city for years to crack down on the event. "It's a massive concentration of people drinking in the street with indiscriminate musical acts," Esteban Benito, spokesperson for the Asociación de Vecinos de Chueca, told El País. "They're not looking to integrate into the neighbourhood, they just want a five-day drinking party because their main business is in selling alcohol."
Juan Carlos Alonso, the general co-ordinator of Madrid Pride, said the event was more than just a party and brought 300,000 tourists to the city from as far afield as the Americas and Asia, who spend an estimated €110m during the event.
Alonso acknowledged that Madrid Pride was not the only event struggling to find a compromise with the city over noise restrictions. But, he said, "not all of them have fines this big, or problems this big. From our point of view, this reflects a change of policy from the city's administration."
The organisers have requested a meeting with the mayor. In the meantime, they are working on developing some sort of platform where people can show their support for Madrid Pride and speak out against the city's actions.
"The city of Madrid, under Ana Botella, is a city that's losing visitors, losing liberties and become more closed-minded," said Rodrigo. "It's becoming the kind of city that Madrileños don't deserve."
Source: Madrid accused of 'strangling' gay pride
The organisers of Madrid Pride Week, one of the biggest events of its kind in Europe, said the city was trying to "strangle" the event after they were fined nearly €160,000 (£134,000) for noise violations during this year's festival.
"You can't levy such barbaric fines on an event that's so important to the city," said Boti Rodrigo, president of the Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales. "These fines put the survival of Madrid Pride in serious jeopardy."
This is the fourth successive year the festival has been fined for noise violations. Past fines ranged from €35,000-€50,000, against which organisers successfully appealed and had reduced or waived. The courts have so far reduced one of the fines to €600, but have yet to rule on the other two. This year's edition of Madrid Pride, held in July, earned 15 fines totalling €159,809. Organisers have appealed against the fines, but said it could take more than a year before they find out if their appeal is successful.
"We've never seen city hall so short-sighted, with such little political will towards us," said Rodrigo. The celebration of gay pride, started in 1979, attracts an estimated 1.5 million people each year and offers the city a chance to "show that Madrid is an open, multicultural and tolerant city".
"They need to stop trying put obstacles in the way of the event," she said.
When the organisers of Madrid Pride decided to nominate the city to host World Pride, Madrid's mayor, Ana Botella, wrote a letter of support backing the campaign. Now, with the city gearing up to host the global event in 2017, Rodrigo said the mayor's attitude had changed.
"She's putting up permanent barriers to our success," said Rodrigo. "What's clear is that the ideology of a person, when that person is the mayor of Madrid, shouldn't interfere at all in her political responsibilities."
In 2011, when Botella was Madrid's councillor for the environment, she introduced stringent noise limits in residential areas. The restrictions forced Madrid Pride to resort to silent concerts, where participants danced to music streaming through their headphones. Organisers later complained that this dampened the mood of the event. Since then, the city has allowed for some flexibility, doubling the noise limit during Madrid Pride.
Calls to the mayor's office were not returned, but the association that represents Chueca, the neighbourhood where Madrid Pride is held, has been actively lobbying the city for years to crack down on the event. "It's a massive concentration of people drinking in the street with indiscriminate musical acts," Esteban Benito, spokesperson for the Asociación de Vecinos de Chueca, told El País. "They're not looking to integrate into the neighbourhood, they just want a five-day drinking party because their main business is in selling alcohol."
Juan Carlos Alonso, the general co-ordinator of Madrid Pride, said the event was more than just a party and brought 300,000 tourists to the city from as far afield as the Americas and Asia, who spend an estimated €110m during the event.
Alonso acknowledged that Madrid Pride was not the only event struggling to find a compromise with the city over noise restrictions. But, he said, "not all of them have fines this big, or problems this big. From our point of view, this reflects a change of policy from the city's administration."
The organisers have requested a meeting with the mayor. In the meantime, they are working on developing some sort of platform where people can show their support for Madrid Pride and speak out against the city's actions.
"The city of Madrid, under Ana Botella, is a city that's losing visitors, losing liberties and become more closed-minded," said Rodrigo. "It's becoming the kind of city that Madrileños don't deserve."
Source: Madrid accused of 'strangling' gay pride
